Meet
the men who have courageously answered God’s call to ministry by clicking on
their photos in the right column.

By
Doris Sump

October
17, 2018 — The Society of Jesus in the U.S., Canada and Haiti welcomed 39 new Jesuit novices this fall at novitiates in
California, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Quebec and Haiti. They have taken the initial step on
their journey toward Jesuit priesthood or brotherhood, known as “Jesuit
formation,” which can take a total
of eight to 12 years.

In
these first two years as novices, the men will learn what it means to live in community, adopt the rhythm of daily prayer and
deepen their understanding of God’s call to the Society. They have selflessly
devoted their lives to the service of the marginalized, to the church, to God
and to each other.

The novices of the Jesuit Novitiate of
St. Stanislaus Kostka in Grand Coteau, Louisiana.

St.
Ignatius of Loyola, who co-founded the Society in 1540, first defined the
elements of Jesuit formation in his Jesuit Constitutions. Jesuit novices still
follow this plan today — adapted to the modern world.

“The novices best support the needs of the church
in the modern world by preaching the Gospel in a way that all sorts of people
can receive it,” says Fr. William O’Brien, SJ, novice director at the Jesuit
Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado in St. Paul, Minnesota. “For this mission,
they must learn to discern God's presence in the wide range of cultures,
sensibilities and human experiences that they will encounter.”

Thus begins a comprehensive program of service,
ministry, study and prayer, methodically
devised to help Jesuits grow in their relationships with Christ and identify how they can best serve him and all
humankind.

At the
novitiate in California, the novices’ first week starts with a welcome Mass and
lunch for the new novices, families and guests, says Fr. Stephen Corder, SJ,
novice director at the Jesuit Novitiate of the Three Companions in Culver City,
California. The new Jesuits attend orientation sessions, take on house jobs,
share vocation stories and visit local Jesuit ministries. In the second week,
they do a three-day silent retreat given by the second-year novices.

From
then on, typical days at the novitiate consist of classes taught by the
director and his assistant (known as the Socius), as well as daily Mass, group
prayer, discussion of their spiritual journeys and chores around the house.

Novices
share a home-cooked meal at the end of a day of ministry in the community.

Fr. Joseph
Sands, SJ, director at the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Andrew Hall in Syracuse, New
York, draws parallels between the novitiate and academics (something the
Society knows a thing or two about). “I would compare entering the novitiate to
starting college. I think they’re pretty courageous for it,” he says. “They may
be anxious because they don’t know exactly where it leads, but once they get
in, they find it a very positive and human environment.”

Indeed, the novices’ Jesuit community
becomes their new family. “The novices enjoy going to movies together, bicycling, going to the
Loyola Marymount University gym, playing volleyball at the beach, cooking and
hiking,” Fr. Corder says.

Novices
and men in formation (known as
scholastics) enjoying time together.

Of
course, the novices remain close to their old families at the same time. “Normally, the novices have opportunities to
visit their families for the Christmas holiday and in late June, after
returning from their summer program,” says Fr. O’Brien. Family members and
close friends come to the novitiate for visits and stay connected through email
and phone calls.

As for
the work outlined in St. Ignatius’ Constitutions, the novices complete a series
of “experiments” to explore their vocations and help them discern the
specific ways they might be called to serve the church.

Novices visit the Martyrs Shrine in Midland, Ontario, Canada.

For
example, this fall the new novices in California will work with prison
retreats, spiritual programs and juvenile hall through Jesuit Restorative
Justice Initiative; become chaplaincy volunteers at a low-income
hospital; care for the elderly at a nursing home; tutor at Dolores
Mission School; and provide a pastoral presence at the well-known
gang intervention program Homeboy
Industries.

“The
purpose is to find that at the heart of our mission is a call to be with people
on the margins, enter the struggles of the world and find the face of Christ,”
says Fr. Andrew Kirschman, SJ, novice director at the Jesuit Novitiate of St.
Stanislaus Kostka in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. “All these experiences help the
novices grow in awareness of Christ laboring with us in the world today.”

Novices
also make St. Ignatius’ 30-day Spiritual Exercises silent retreat, which they commonly
regard as the most meaningful part of the novitiate.

“It
surprises the novices,” says Fr. Sands. “They’re grateful for the way they encounter
God’s attention, care and love for them.”

The
novices aren’t the only ones on a path of discovery. Fr. Corder has found his
duties allow him to view the Society through each novice’s fresh eyes.

“I’m
always impressed with their generosity, compassion and desire to walk with
people,” he says. “They have a good sense of humor and openness to God’s
grace.”

First- and second-year novices at the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Andrew Hall in
Syracuse, New York.

Another part of St. Ignatius’ Constitutions
instructs novices to embark on a month-long pilgrimage “without money … begging from door to door … to
grow accustomed to discomfort in food and lodging.” The pilgrimage teaches novices to adapt to God’s
mystery in unique ways, a necessary skill they’ll draw on for the rest of their
lives as Jesuits, as Fr. O’Brien explains. “In addition to an active prayer
life and training in Christian theology, the qualities of flexibility and
empathy that Jesus exemplified are indispensable.”

Details
of the pilgrimage assignment vary at each novitiate, but Jesuits are generally
sent out with a one-way bus ticket, little or no money and only the clothes on
their back. They are directed to return within a few weeks to a month.

“Pilgrimage
tends to be every mother’s nightmare. To be sent out of the novitiate with a
one-way bus ticket and just $5 sounds terrifying. And yet there is an adventure
side — rooted in Ignatius’ life experience — that novices find inspiring, even
compelling,” says Fr. Kirschman. “Post-pilgrimage is grace-filled as novices
return with a profound sense of trust in God.”

Novices at the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado in St. Paul,
Minnesota.

In the second year of their novitiate, novices are
missioned to an assignment at a Jesuit-run organization, similar to an internship.
Called a “long experiment,”
this segment of the novitiate lasts several months.

This spring, Jesuit novices in the Midwest Province
were assigned to long experiments at Clinical Pastoral Education programs in
Omaha and Chicago, while others worked in Jesuit schools such as Creighton
Preparatory School in Omaha, Cristo Rey Jesuit College Prep in Houston, Saint
Ignatius High School in Cleveland, and Red Cloud High School on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Others served at Jesuit-founded social
centers such as the Casa Romero Renewal Center
in Milwaukee, Homeboy Industries in Los
Angeles and the Thrive for Life Prison Project
in New York City.

Novices visiting the Discalced Carmelites
of Lafayette, Louisiana.

As
novices, Jesuits in the U.S. and Canada spend one of their summers at Regis
University in Denver at a conference on Jesuit history, delving more intensely
into St. Ignatius’ life while meeting their peers at other novitiates.

After
two years, the hope is that novices will have become confident in their
vocations, nurtured a more intimate relationship with God and developed a
profound love for the Society of Jesus. At the end of their time as novices,
they profess First Vows of poverty, chastity and
obedience.

Second-year Jesuit novices from the Midwest
Province professed first vows this August at Saint Thomas More Catholic
Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

No
longer novices, they are called “scholastics” as they continue to the next
stage of Jesuit formation, First Studies, for two years of graduate-level
philosophy courses.

For
those considering religious life, whether with the Jesuits or elsewhere, Fr.
Kirschman suggests young adults “begin by looking for Christ in the suffering
around you.”

“Can
you find Christ present in the messiness and brokenness of our world, of our
cities and church, of your own heart?” Fr. Kirschman asks. “If so, Christ might
be calling you to labor with him as a companion.”

The
next step, Fr. Corder advises, is to “pray, let God love you and find a
spiritual director you can talk to.”

Above
all, Fr. Kirschman says, “Trust Christ … and come and see!”

Do you
want to learn more about vocations to the Society of Jesus? Visit www.jesuitvocations.org for
more information.

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